I hope you and your family have enjoyed the 2017 Homecoming Week. It has thus far been a great week at D’Evelyn, and I am looking forward to great celebrations at the Bonfire (rescheduled due to weather), the football team’s Homecoming Game, and the Dance on Saturday night. Please accept my best wishes to you and your student(s) for a fun-filled Homecoming Weekend.

Once the dust settles and the decorations are removed on Saturday night, we will transition as a school into an important week for students and families. Our annual fall Parent | Student |Teacher Conferences will be held on Wednesday, October 4th and Thursday, October 5th in the D’Evelyn gymnasium. We do encourage students to attend conferences to engage in the thoughtful conversations with teachers.

The purpose of the Parent |Student | Teacher Conferences is to allow parents and students the opportunity to connect individually with their teachers. There are a variety of opportunities for conversation points presented by the conferences, including but not limited to:

clarifying understanding of course expectations

reviewing major assignments and assessment practices

gathering feedback on student performance in a class through six weeks

determining areas and opportunities for student growth

establishing a framework for future communication

We hope that you and your student(s) will capitalize on this valuable opportunity to meet with teachers.At D’Evelyn, Parent-Student-Teacher Conferences occur in the Main Gymnasium in an arena format. There are no appointments or set schedules for meetings; rather, parents and students will have an opportunity to meet with teachers on a first-come, first-served basis throughout the evening. Please bring a copy of your child’s schedule for use during the conferences. We will not be distributing copies of schedules during conferences.

To allow all families an opportunity to meet with teachers, we ask that conferences are kept to a maximum of five minutes per teacher. If you need more than five minutes of meeting time with the teacher, please set up an appointment for a future date and time. During conferences, counselors and administrators will also be available to meet with parents and students. Prior to conferences, students 6-week grades will be submitted and posted in Infinite Campus. We will send an update via School Messenger email to let families know when the 6-week grades are all posted in Parent Portal.

Thank you for your continued support of your child in their educational experience at D’Evelyn. We appreciate and rely upon your support to maintain high academic and behavioral expectations for our students. I hope that Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences are an effective way by which you can support your student’s success. I hope you all enjoy a restful, relaxing, and fun Homecoming Weekend.

The D’Evelyn Homecoming Week is just around the corner - Monday, September 25th - Saturday, September 30th. I look forward to another year of fun and excitement in celebration of our great school.

Homecoming Week is an exciting time for students, families, faculty, staff, and alumni, and I hope that this year will be a celebration of the many great things happening at D’Evelyn. Additionally, I encourage all community members to participate in the various activities going on around the school during the Homecoming Week.

Wednesday, September 27th - D’Evelyn Homecoming Bonfire, beginning at 5:30 pm, West Parking LotThis is a fun evening event designed for all family members. Five food trucks will begin serving food at 5:30 pm. The committed food trucks are:

Meatball

Hey PB&J

Tony Guacamole

Mac N Noodle

Fun with Funnels

There will be games, a DJ, and a photo truck for interested participants. The 6-time defending state champion D’Evelyn Marching Band will also be performing. The bonfire will start at dark and run until around 8:30 or 9 pm. Please join us in the great community celebration!

Friday, September 29th - Junior High Social, 2:30 - 4:00 PM, Cafeteria and West CampusOur annual fall Junior High Social is a fun event for students including games, music, and food. We encourage all junior high students to participate in this event. Tickets will be available during lunches on Thursday and Friday of next week, as well as at the door at the start of the event.

Friday, September 29th - Homecoming football game vs. Arvada High School, 7:30 pm at Trailblazer StadiumCome out and support the Jags football team in their match-up with Arvada. The D’Evelyn Marching Band will also perform at halftime of the game.

Saturday, September 30th - Homecoming Dance, D’Evelyn gym, 7 - 10 PMThe culminating event for Homecoming Week for high school students, our annual Homecoming Dance will take place in the Large Gym Saturday evening, from 7 - 10 pm. We hope to see many students there and enjoying the dance floor.

Throughout the course of the week, the students will also have a chance to participate in spirit days and several student events during 7th hour. While it is important to maintain a quality academic environment at D’Evelyn, we hope that this week will be fun-filled and enjoyable for all of our students.

Wish Week - During this week, the D’Evelyn Student Council has chosen to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation. For more information on how you can support the fundraising efforts for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, please visit this website:http://site.wish.org/goto/DEvelynWishWeek

Parent Volunteers for the Homecoming Dance - If you are interested in supporting D’Evelyn students by attending the Homecoming Dance, please visit the volunteer sign-up site below:http://signup.com/go/bfHXvqY

There are an array of volunteer opportunities for parents, many of which allow parents to stay outside of the dance venue in the Large Gym. I encourage you to consider volunteering to support the students and our Student Council at the Dance.

Support D’Evelyn AthleticsIn addition to the Homecoming Football game, the other D’Evelyn fall sports programs have athletic competitions throughout Homecoming Week, and into the month of October. We encourage your support of these programs. If you are interested in learning more about the fall sports program schedule, please visit our Sports Calendar.

Thank you for your continued support of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. I hope you all enjoy a wonderful weekend, and I look forward to sharing in the celebration of Homecoming Week with all community members beginning Monday.

As an option school in the Jeffco Public Schools district, D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School admits students through an annual lottery process for grades 7, 8, and 9. In order for students to be admitted to the school through the lottery process, parents must attend one of the Prospective Student Information Nights. The Prospective Student Information Nights for this school year are as follows:

Thursday, September 21, 2017

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

These Prospective Student Information Nights begin at 7:00 PM and are hosted in the D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School Auditorium.

The purpose of the presentation is to update and educate interested families in the following areas:-- the D’Evelyn program philosophy-- expectations of students and parents-- an overview of the D’Evelyn curriculum and graduation requirements-- school structures & systems-- an overview of the lottery / application process-- additional pertinent information about the school and its operations

At the conclusion of the Prospective Student Information Nights, parents interested in adding their child(ren) to the D’Evelyn lottery will need to complete and submit their option school choice enrollment forms. This form is required for a student to be entered into the D’Evelyn lottery.

For parents with students currently enrolled at D’Evelyn, and wish to enroll a younger sibling at D’Evelyn for 7th, 8th, or 9th grade in the 2018-2019 school year, you are not required to attend another Prospective Student Information Night, though you are welcome to attend. Nonetheless, you do need to complete the option school choice enrollment form and submit it to Sue Brown in the D’Evelyn Counseling Office by the January 23, 2018 deadline.

We hope to provide a clear understanding for all parents and students interested in the D’Evelyn program, with the intention of entering the lottery for the 2018-2019 school year. In addition to attending one of the information nights, I encourage all parents of interested students to read and review the D’Evelyn Founding Document, available on the D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School website, in an effort to deepen your understanding of the program. We hope that all parents and students make informed decisions during the school choice process, in an effort to encourage maximum success for students within the Jeffco school system.

Thank you for your continued support and for your interest in D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School. I look forward to seeing many new families engage in our community through the upcoming Prospective Student Information Nights.

An important pillar of the D’Evelyn program is parental involvement. The D’Evelyn Program Document states, “The D’Evelyn Program has been conceived by parents, and they will continue to be an integral part of its functioning. All parents, students, and staff must understand and embrace the philosophy of the school.”

There are a variety of ways for parents to be involved in the D’Evelyn community, but this week I would like to highlight the D’Evelyn Accountability Committee. The committee serves in an advisory role to the principal and Steering Committee. This year, the committee has designed a year of meetings based in the theme of providing parents a toolbox to support their students. Accountability meetings are held on the second Tuesday of each full month of the school year, with the exception of January. Meetings alternate between evening and morning times in order to accommodate varied parent schedules.

The first Accountability meeting of the 2017-2018 school year will be Tuesday evening, September 12th from 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm in the D’Evelyn Library. During this meeting, we will have two significant presentations on top of the regular business agenda items:

I will make a formal introduction to attendees - sharing information about my life, personal and professional experiences, educational philosophy, and points of emphasis for the school year.

The Steering Committee will be providing updates on the hiring process for the principal position. They will share updates on the composition of the hiring committee, additional ways that parents can be involved in the hiring process, and an approximate timeline for the hiring.

We look forward to seeing many parents in the audience of our first Accountability Committee meeting. Thank you for your continued support of D’Evelyn Junior/Senior High School.

The D’Evelyn Program Document places a strong emphasis on student mastery of an essential body of cultural knowledge based in the liberal arts curriculum. With the high academic expectations established for students, teachers are expected to provide high quality instruction in the teacher-centered, whole-group instructional model. There is a myriad of benefits to the whole-group instructional model, including the ability for teachers to serve as content experts who ensure that academic material is well organized and features appropriate pacing for the students in each class.

In order for students to enjoy the benefits of the high quality instruction in their classrooms, we encourage that students make class time a priority. Additionally, state law and district policy support and mandate a high level of student attendance over the course of the school year. In a typical school day, we ask students to attend and be punctual for all classes. As a faculty and administration, we work tirelessly to limit the interruptions to instructional time for teachers, and are committed to restricting the impact of extracurricular activities on class time. Parents can support faculty, staff, and students by scheduling needed appointments outside of the school day, and encouraging their students to maintain a strong attendance record.

In the interest of the well-being, long-term health, and attendance of all students, it is important to emphasize that when students are sick, they should stay home. When a student tries to fight through illness and attend school, they will likely run themselves down further, and also contribute to spreading illness among other members of the D’Evelyn community. We ask that students use sick days when they are in fact ill, and that parents call our D’Evelyn Attendance Line to report student illness resulting in absence. The D’Evelyn 24-hour attendance line is 303-982-5771.

Within the D’Evelyn program, we hope to teach and support students in a way that maximizes their success during and after their time here. We ask that parents support these efforts by encouraging strong attendance and punctuality with their child(ren), and that they follow proper procedure on student absence for illness. Thank you for your continued support, and best wishes on an excellent Labor Day weekend!